NSW reveals new detail on Omicron cases as Sydney cluster grows

NSW health officials have revealed a new detail about Omicron cases after the Sydney cluster spiked overnight.

NSW’s top doctor says no one with the Omicron Covid-19 variant has been admitted to hospital, as she confirmed another 10 cases of the strain.

Twenty-five people in the state have now been infected with Omicron, up from 15 at the weekend, after genomic testing identified additional cases in the community.

Chief health officer Kerry Chant said to date there had been no cases of the variant admitted to hospital for Covid-related care.

A total of 14 Omicron infections have been connected to the Regents Park Christian School outbreak in western Sydney, which spread to a nearby gym and a local primary school.

There were 61,132 coronavirus tests conducted in the 24 hours to 8pm on Sunday night. Picture: Julian Andrews.

The other 11 cases in NSW acquired the virus either overseas or on an international flight, Dr Chant said.

Details are still emerging about the Omicron strain, which was first identified in South Africa.

The World Health Organisation has named it as a variant of concern.

Dr Chant has said public health teams are working to understand is how easily it spreads, how severe the disease is across all age groups and whether past infection with previous strains protects or modifies the disease severity.

It also remains to be seen how effective vaccines are against the variant, but authorities have said all of the cases detected in Australia so far have been mild.

Health officials have been bracing for more Omicron cases linked to an outbreak the Regents Park cluster, which Dr Chant described as a “rapidly evolving situation”.

NSW Health said on Monday that genomic revealed an additional nine cases in this cluster carried the Omicron variant, adding to five infections that had already been identified.

NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said the Sydney Omicron outbreak was ‘rapidly evolving’. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard

The state reported a total of 208 new Covid-19 infections and no new deaths on Monday.

There are 152 people in hospital with the virus, with 24 people in intensive care and five people on ventilators.

Of the over 16 population, 92.8 are double-dose vaccinated and 94.6 have received at least one shot.

Of teenagers aged between 12 and 15, 77.2 per cent are fully vaccinated and 81.4 per cent have had at least their first dose.

There were 61,132 coronavirus tests conducted in the 24 hours to 8pm on Sunday night.

Daily case numbers have fallen slightly over the weekend despite concerns about the Omicron variant.